Brown Before Green

Like my friends who espouse all things Green, I want to live on a healthy planet. I really do. But I’m tired of the guilt; I’m suspicious of the manipulation. And I’m weary of being lectured by people who seem to care more about the planet than the people on it. Hollywood and Washington have shaped the issue, and now, all things Eco-friendly are up for sale. Well, that’s fine. But when it comes to jobs, the people who make a difference aren’t covered in green. They’re covered in Brown – dirt, mud, grime, grease, or maybe something worse. I’m no expert, but if we’re going to save the Earth, the color of Dirt makes a heck of a lot more sense than the color of Envy. The way I see it, if we really want to get clean and green, we’re gonna have to get down with brown. In other words, we’re going to have to get our hands dirty.

What’s Brown Before Green??

Here at mikeroweWORKS, we believe that everything was brown before it was green and that’s where people should start. Or so we think anyway. Watch the video and see what the term “Brown Before Green” actually means.

Click here to watch the video.

Students Acquire Green Skills

From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox:

Let’s add up all the cool things about this story: high school students learning skills + eco-friendly jobs + saving energy costs for local governments = a win all around. Read the story below and check out the video from KIVI TV

TREASURE VALLEY YOUTH LEARN GREEN JOBS

Changing Circuit Breaker Nampa’s Centennial Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center’s partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows close to 300 students learn skills for echo-friendly jobs. 　

Brandon Brown, 25, graduated Friday and is about to begin his career in a specialized trade that’s “green-friendly.” Certified in electrical trade, he rewires buildings so they use less energy by using recycled material.

“I never expected to learn as much as I have,” Brown said. “Learning (about) new products coming out into the market is a new way of doing things where we’re leaving less of a footprint.”

Brown has already used his skills to replace light fixtures in the Center’s school gym, making it 30% brighter than before and saving the school about 0 a year.

Brown is one of 300 students who earn their GED and became certified in “green” jobs. Green-collar work is backed by teachers, students, and lawmakers to be the next wave for job opportunity.

“(Green skill work) is the sweet spot with new training efforts on people who are qualified and motivated to compete for these jobs in the future,” said Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick. Idaho is one of eighteen states with this skill training.　Congressman Minnick hopes the program will expand with another facility in northern Idaho by next fiscal year.

Somebody’s Gotta Do It – Spotlight on Chad Pegracke

Who’s gonna clean up this mess? We made it, we’ve lived with it and now what – we want to ignore it? Nah uh – doesn’t work like that and thank goodness there’s people like Chad Pegracke. Somebody’s Gotta Do It.

Click here to watch the video.